1.
GV Pan Buses in depot pan to water-cannon
0.11

2.
GV Water-cannon leaving bus depot with police at entrance
0.21

3.
GV Buses at second depot
0.26

4.
GV Buses leaving first depot under police supervision
0.42

5.
GV Zoom into strike-bound buses at third depot (3 shots)
0.51

6.
GV People waiting for buses
1.00



Initials SC/1613 SC/1629



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Bus services in Madrid were disrupted on Tuesday (January 8th) when drivers staged a 'go-slow' to back their call for increased pay.

Police were called in to at least one bus depot where they deployed a water-cannon vehicle. But no clashes were reported. Militant industrial action is illegal in Spain.

The drivers were seeking wage increases in a new collective labour agreement being negotiated with city's privately-owned bus company.

About a third of Madrid's labour force reported late for work in the morning as a result of the 'go-slow'. By mid-day the buses were running on schedule.

This is the second incident of industrial unrest by Spanish workers since Carlos Arias Navarro was sworn in as Prime Minister on January 2nd. On Monday (January 7th) 6,000 textile workers in Barcelona staged a one-day strike calling for tax-free allowances to be doubled.

Reuters news agency sees Navarro's appointment and subsequent government re-shuffle as bringing an era of tougher right-wing rule in Spain. The government changeover followed the assassination in a bomb-blast in late December of Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco.